Do you think a part should increase the value of the bike?

[DivideOverflow]

Other people's upgrades aren't my problem. If they want to revert it to stock for me, fine. Otherwise, I tell them I will pay $x for the bike, and I will pay for the accessories I want on an individual basis, depending on what it is.

Also, I wouldn't pay full price for their accessories either. Some people don't understand the concept of depreciation.

[Sev]

I think the best way to sell a bike is to put it back to stock and list it. Keep whatever parts will carry over and sell the rest separately.

[MrGompers]

I ran into that problem on craigslist too. Took me 6 weeks to find a nice bike at a good price. Seller was VERY motivated & was moving out of state.

Back on topic. I wouldn't pay for any upgrades either. What the seller put on the bike isn't a concern of mine. Maybe they should take it off & sell it stock. Also, I would be very weary of upgrades that weren't professionally installed.

As a sidenote some of the bikes I saw on craigslist in February that had lots of upgrades are still for sale.

[NorthernPete]

I know a guy thats selling a 96 Harley 883 with a custom naked lady airbrush tank paint job, and straight pipes and he's selling it for $17,000 SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!

it does have a naked lady painted on it though....

[desper]

I used to work at a Dodge dealership and there was this guy that had his neon in there every few weeks getting something added or modded. He ended up putting about 50 grand (canadian) into this little POS. If he had traded it in he would have gotten about 8000 if he was lucky. But if he found someone with the same taste in pimped out economy cars, maybe he'd only lose half his investment:)

[NorthernPete]

Did he put a few extra hampsters in the wheel to make it go faster or was it still a gerbil mobile?

[rolandk]

The ads that crack me up are the ones that say something like "$20K invested, asking $5000/best offer." Dude made a bad investment.

[SumAznGuy]

In my humble opinion, I think that adding upgrades would actually DECREASE the value of the vehicle only because of a simple reason. It is because people who upgrade the power most likely ride the "poo poo" out of it. Honestly, if you drove a Ferrari F40 would you stick to the speed limits and drive it SLOW?

Besides, alot of people try to do modifications themselves and end up with more problems because they thought it was a waste of money getting a REAL professional to do the work.

So if you want a bike with all these nice upgrades, check for an aftermarket crankcase and check the tire tread wear pattern, because it could be raced. Also ask for a bill on the modification whether it was done at a reputable shop or not...

[Mintbread]

I think that adding upgrades would actually DECREASE the value of the vehicle only because of a simple reason. It is because people who upgrade the power most likely ride the "poo poo" out of it.

That is rather spurious reasoning. Going by that logic, anyone who rides a stock bike must ride the "poo poo" out of it to go faster whereas someone on a modified bike will not need to cane the engine because it is capable of going faster with less effort.

To me, mods indicate that the rider was dedicated to their machine as it would be rather pointless to throw money at a bike that you did not like in the first place.

[skinnyjoint]

if its somthing that i wanted to do, or like how it looks/sounds then i have no problem "comping" them for the mods but they wont get nearly what they paid for them from me.

lets say msrp is 5k on a bike and its in great condition and has a couple things done, even with those mods im still only going to pay around 5k . if the bike was stock it would prolly be more like 45 or somthing so 500 bux for xhaust, sprocket, springs, lights etc. isnt that bad IMO because if i do it, its going to cost way more